inconspicuously while on duty. Practice is given in walking, to demonstrate the desirability of a fine bearing and gait; correct sitting position is taught; awkward and deforming habits are modified; and the effectiveness of a clear, well-modulated voice is emphasized. The point is constantly made that good looks and fine physique are, and should be, a personal and business asset. Throughout the lessons, without sacrifice of scientific principles, the recreative spirit prevails, and the girls enter into the work with enthusiasm.

The beneficial influence of this course is marked. The possibilities for good in such an application of physical training are unquestionably great, and it is believed that in the near future this field will be developed by organizations interested in bringing about a high degree of industrial efficiency.

Referring to the help she had received from this work, one girl said:

I found that I had been sitting in street cars all bundled up and in the most uncomfortable and awkward positions, with my chest contracted and my feet twisted around the foot rails. I took too long a step for the length of my leg and I had never thought of taking deep breaths in fresh air. I had no idea that exercise and fresh air would do so much for me, but now unless I have plenty of fresh air all the time I can not bear to do anything.

ENGLISH.

The pupils need to be taught correct usage and what may be termed good taste or judgment in the selection of words. In the public schools they have studied English grammar, and the noticeably deficient speech of most saleswomen, their impoverished vocabularies, would seem to indicate that this subject has not been taught to advantage. If English and English literature were taught vocationally, as a well-known writer has recently urged, it seems probable that the rank and file of industrial workers, as well as many of those who have had the advantage of a good education, would use the language with greater perfection. Undoubtedly most of the pupils who speak good English when they leave school did so when they entered, from home association with those who speak well.

Whatever the strength or weakness of the present system of English teaching, few of the girls who undertake store work appear to have gained much of practical value from their previous study of English. Probably a still smaller number hear good English spoken at home. Thus they naturally use the words, phrases, and constructions of their associates of the less-educated classes. While some respond well to a review of subject, predicate, transitive and intransitive verbs, participial forms, and other technicalities easily grasped by a certain type of mind but difficult of mastery by the average young person, the majority are not interested in the structural side of the language. All are interested, however, in the phraseology that will most clearly express their ideas and will therefore make

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the strongest appeal to customers. The idea is developed that good English is a quickly recognized sign of education; that customers prefer well-educated to ignorant sales people, because an educated person may be expected to be intelligent, thoughtful, and thorough in the service which she renders; and that it is consequently greatly to a girl's personal and professional advantage to cultivate an adequate vocabulary.

Since the merchandise is responsible for most of the conversation between customers and sales people, it is made the basis for much of the study of English. Articles representing various departments of a store, placed before the class, are talked and written about, always from the standpoint of interesting and impressing the customer. Lists of appropriate adjectives are made; articles are compared; shapes, styles, and distinctive features are named and described. Again, no actual merchandise may be used, but a pupil standing before the class will describe something from her own stock-a dress, for example-which she considers one of the best and most attractive values in the department. It is understood that she is to describe it as fully and accurately as possible, so that the class will have a clear picture of the dress. When she has finished, the class plies her with questions. What were the buttons? How were they arranged? Was it genuine pongee? Was the dress hand or machine embroidered? When all the gaps have been filled in and every point 'has been settled, each pupil may write a description of the dress to show the strength of her memory and her power of visualizing. Similar exercises are given in directing customers to different departments of the store and in answering the many diverse questions which are asked.

The spelling lesson differs little from any spelling lesson taught with modern methods, except that the pupils have felt and expressed the need to learn to spell the words correctly before they are given the opportunity of learning them. Lists of words to be spelled are made up of confusing addresses in Boston and its vicinity, names and terms used in connection with merchandise of many kinds, words frequently heard and written in reference to store and business, such as "superintendent," "department," "manager," "aisle," and "delivery," and common errors found in the notebooks.

The work which has been referred to as written English deals chiefly with letter writing. Each member of the class writes a letter of application for a position as saleswoman. Another type of letter is that written to a customer, explaining a delay in the delivery of merchandise ordered or asking permission to substitute something for an article not in stock. These letters are corrected and rewritten until they meet certain requirements previously agreed upon as necessary. Letters must be spaced and written well, must be clear and

correct in expression, and must be gracious and dignified in tone. When it is considered how comparatively few persons, even among the well educated, are able to write a really excellent letter, and how important may be the influence of a letter, the reason for emphasis on this part of the course will be understood.

A requirement of the daily work is a record or report of the lessons, which each pupil writes in a notebook provided for this purpose. The finished accounts, written in ink, are corrected by the teachers, who give individual instruction to those whose penmanship or spelling is faulty or whose powers of expression are weak.

Occasional lectures have been mentioned as a part of the salesmanship course, but some talks are also given on subjects of broad general interest. In the study of oral English, clear enunciation of words and free and fearless use of the voice are found to be so important that a talk on "The speaking voice" is listened to with interest and profit. One of the means of increasing vocabulary and developing forceful speech is known to be the reading of good authors. Not from this standpoint alone, however, is the subject of "Books and reading" approached. Knowledge of human nature, keen judgment of character, breadth of sympathy-these are salesmanship essentials. By means of brief but interesting reviews of current or standard works of biography or fiction the class is led to see that good books help them to develop the higher qualities of salesmanship. The speaker also points out that broader outlook, higher ideals, and courage to meet hard situations are a part of the personal gain which comes from reading authors of recognized merit and that as a means of rest and recreation, some books offer unqualified solace and delight. Various books are discussed, as to their ultimate value to the reader. A reading list is compiled, books previously collected from libraries and private collections are lent to the class, and all are encouraged and helped to avail themselves of their public library privileges. Subsequent class and individual conferences strengthen the desire for good reading and make the pupils increasingly thoughtful in their choice of books, magazines, and newspapers.

A talk on "The use of leisure" brings out the importance of planning the use of free time to yield the richest returns, and "What we get from plays" helps the pupils to see that the drama, like literature, is a means of recreation, education, and culture, and should, therefore, be chosen with discrimination.

That the pupils may be intelligent about the great movements of the day which are of vital importance to them, lectures are given on such subjects as "The significance of the trade-union movement,” Woman suffrage," "The minimum wage," and " Vocational training."

Chapter V.

THE METHOD OF TEACHING.

It will be recalled that a part of the fourfold purpose of the school is the development of individual power, and it is toward this end particularly that the teaching methods are directed. Some teachers consider a course of study the all-important thing, while others in an effort to make the presentation conform to a certain standard may fail to teach essential subject matter. In the school of salesmanship the course of study and the method of teaching are so bound together that an attempt to separate them results in marked loss of effectiveThis accounts for the failure of some teachers who, not trained in the methods of the school, have tried to use its outlines. Anyone can teach the externals of selling; were the training to stop there, a saleswoman would derive little permanent benefit from a course in salesmanship. It takes a trained teacher, and one trained in the highest ideals and practices of vocational teaching, to lead a class to think out for themselves the principles governing success within their own vocation.

ness.

Teaching the pupils to think is the keynote of the method. It involves a selection of questions which can not be answered without constructive thought: It is a very complete application of the method employed by many educators whereby the pupils are led to discover their own needs, and, having discovered, seek to satisfy them. The teacher makes such use of the situations presented that the actual steps in development of the lesson are detected by the pupils themselves, the self-activity thus induced leading to that mental awakening which is one of the high achievements of true education. Lessons conducted on this plan are more like conferences than formal recitations, for the teacher, instead of "imparting information," directs the class discussion so that it will follow the most helpful lines, interprets when necessary, and so guides the lesson that the pupils form spontaneously the correct conclusions.

A few examples of the lessons taught in the school of salesmanship may be of value in showing how inseparable is the course of study from the method of administering it.

For the first example a lesson on diet may be taken. The subject of diet and digestion was not new to the class. Before entering the school most of the pupils had had some instruction regarding food and its assimilation, instruction apparently misdirected, for their